Downward Spiral
by unGratefulNobody
Summary: There's a fine line between genius and insanity. That's why it doesn't take much to break that line. Set from the day he first gets put into the Mental Asylum, to two days before he escapes again to take Dr. Brennan
1. Chapter 1

_**I don't belong here, this is so unlike me, and right now it's like I'm feelbing a constant itch in the back of my head that i need to run.**_

 _ **No. That's not the right thing to do.**_

 _ **But I really did percieve what the master was proposing then as LOGIC. NOW I know it's complete and utter garbage but-**_

 _ **I know, but back then it was logic.**_

 _ **Hodgins is right, I wouldn't have lasted a day in prison. I'm glad i copped out.**_

 _ **That makes me think though, how exactly do people keep friends for longer periods of time?**_

 _ **More importantly, how have I kept the few ones at the lab. Despite what everyone has found out and discovered about me, they've paid more attention to what's happened to me over the years than my own family?**_

 _ **Why is that?**_

 _ **Do I owe them?**_

 _ **Why do I feel so terrible and relieved at the same time that the authorities have put me in here?**_

* * *

Zach tried to shut off all the different voices asking him all these questions at once.

All those voices, it's a bit much, especially in your own room where there was nothing but silence.

But worst of all, Zach couldn't get the master's voice out of his head.

He took off one glove and began to itch at his burns.


	2. Chapter 2

The alarm bell was starting to sound downstairs; they realized Zack was gone from his 'room'.

People here always correct him when he says cell, like...like it's supposed to make him feel better if he pretends it's his choice to stay here, like a Hotel.

But it's not.

Zack starts to hear footsteps coming up the stairwell. He looked up at the stars and sighed dramatically.

All he wanted to do was climb to the roof of the sanatorium, to name the constellations he could see right then to clear his mind. It's something he used to do at home in Wisconsin, when all of his younger relatives became too overbearing and overwhelming at reunions.

 _ **"MR. ADDY. COME BACK TO YOUR ROOM RIGHT NOW. YOU CAN'T BE UP HERE."**_ The burly orderly grabbed his shoulder and gently pushed him towards the door.

"Imbecile..." Zack hissed at him before letting go of his resistance and letting the orderlies shove him back through the doorway.

* * *

'Oh well...' Zack thought. At least I got to see some stars while it lasted.

He got to see Virgo, which if he remembers correctly was sometimes identified with the virgin goddess Astraea, holding the scales of justice in her hand.

 _._

 _Goddess..._

 _._

 _Holding justice in the palm of her hand._

 _._

Before Zack dozed off completely that night, the last thought that crossed his mind was-

 _ **'That reminds me quite alot of Dr. Brennan.'**_


	3. Chapter 3

*****set after the events of the episode "The Perfect Pieces in the Purple Pond" where Zack escapes his room with the magnetic strip from Sweets' key card, to assist Dr. Brennan on a case*****

Zack sat quietly and thought to himself about the whirlwind of events the past day. He was torn between the reasonings inside his head that he escaped because he wanted to be at the lab again...or simply was it because he wanted to see Dr. Brennan again...?

He felt so good helping them...he appreciated the...objective ness of his job.

Breaking out of here with the magnetic strip from Dr. Sweets' card, and finally arriving back at the lab to help them, made him feel better.

Seeing all their faces again, how happy and smiling they were to see him again, it distracted him just enough from dwelling to much on what a horrible thing he had done.

 _'I was wrong, not delusional..' ._ Zack whispers to himself. Sweets said he thinks Zack should feel more guilty about killing the lobbyist and less about having been taken in by Gormogon's rhetoric and false logic.

He might not have killed this man directly, but his actions still led to a loss of life. Maybe Sweets was right.

And that was something he wast sure anymore he'd be able to continue living with.

Zack jammed his face into his pillow and screamed; hearing orderlies rush to his door at the sound and start to unlock it.

* * *

 ** _WE CARRY THESE THINGS INSIDE US_**

 ** _THAT NO ONE ELSE CAN SEE_**

 ** _THEY HOLD US DOWN LIKE ANCHORS_**

 ** _THEY DROWN US OUT AT SEA_**

 ** _~anonymous_**


	4. Chapter 4

_a one shot fueled by sleep-deprived me listening to the lyrics of 3am by Eminem in the middle of the night. All rights go to their respective owners._

* * *

 _ **Your walkin' down a horror corridor**_  
 _ **It's almost four in the mornin'**_

Zach shifted into a sitting position as the nurse wheeled his medicine cart in. He opened his mouth and rolled his eyes as he popped the two grey-looking pills she handed him.

 _"Say ahh"_

He rolled his eyes again as he opened his mouth to show the nurse that no, he wasn't hiding them under his tongue. She nodded in approval.

 _ **And your in a nightmare**_  
 _ **It's horrible**_  
 _ **Right there's the coroner**_

She sneered at him as she got up to leave before asking one final question.

 _ **Waitin' for you**_  
 _ **To turn the corner**_

 _"Felt like tearing anyone's hearts to shreds anymore, Zachariah?"_

 _"No Ma'am." He answered before she left, the cart creaking loudly as she strolled out the door._

 _ **So he can corner ya**_  
 _ **Your a goner**_

Zach stared at the doorway out of the corner of his right eye, while pretending to do something else, waiting until he was sure she was far down the hallway before running to the sink and spitting out his pills, which he had cleverly concealed beside his gumline in the back of his mouth, not under his tongue.

 _ **He's on a ya**_  
 _ **Out the corner of his cornea**_  
 _ **He just saw you run**_  
 _ **All you want is to rest**_  
 _ **Cause you can't run anymore**_  
 _ **Your done**_

Zach made a disgusted sound as he gagged and spit as much as he possibly could, attemptng to get the bitter synthetic taste of the pills out of his mouth. It just made him more angry.

 _ **All he wants is to kill you in front of an audience**_  
 _ **While everybody**_

Zach looked up into the bathroom mirror.

 _ **Is watchin' in the party applauding it**_

 __"Someday..."


	5. Chapter 5

Zack pulled off one of his gloves to inspect his right hand, and flex his fingers. His skin was mottled red and greyish brown across his entire hand, but he was healing.

 ** _For the past few days, Zack would stay quiet until nighttime, and when everyone was quiet and assumed he was asleep, he would take a few dolls he stole from one of the psychiatrist's offices and start ripping them apart and placing different body parts on incorrect places of different dolls. He kept rationalizing it was something of a habit that had grown out of boredom, being stuck in here. But was it really? There was a thought, a thought itching in the back of his head that he couldn't quite put a finger on. He didn't know what it was, but it felt menacing._**

There was some part of his mind that was starting to become unrecognizable to even himself at the present time.

As Zack was stitching foot to wrist, eye to bellybutton, and styling one of the doll's hair, he looked at that one doll's hair and realized he had been doing it exactly how Dr. Brennan would have her hair styled when she wore it down.

 _"Hmmm.."_

Suddenly Zack heard footsteps coming down the hall. He didn't panic though. He just slowly began to put his little secrets back in one of the ceiling tiles, sliding it back in to place before climbing into bed.

All the while humming a little rhyme he was taught in grade school about how the skeleton fits together.

"The ankle bone tarsals, and the metatarsals  
stubbed phalanges make me cry..."

 _"And there's the marrow in the cavity to make blood cells for all_  
 _parts of you...Dr. Brennan..."_

As he closed his eyes to the unwelcoming abyss of falling asleep in such a barren room, he smiled an evil, childishly excited smile, thinking of his fantastic plan for the next day.


	6. AUTHOR'S NOTICE

_**Hey all. I know for the past year people have noticed I haven't updated any of my stories. and that even so, people were still interested in stories progressing because even a year later I still get notifications of messages, subscriptions and favorites.**_

 _ **Writing is my passion and these stories were my babies, they still are. However around December of 2016 my depression worsened, draining the will of pretty much anything from me. Next week, I want to try and continue all of these again.**_

 _ **Now the favor I need to ask you guys is simple. Whether or not you're one of my first subscribers, or you just discovered it recently and are still wanting to see more, leave a comment on this chapter update or shoot me a message letting me know so! :)**_


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